It's a marathon, not a sprint – Hamilton retains Singapore hope

Lewis Hamilton hopes to make up early ground on Sebastian Vettel in the Singapore Grand Prix before it becomes difficult to overtake.

Vettel charged to pole position at the Marina Bay Circuit on Saturday with a stunning performance in Q3, the German using every inch of the track to set a new lap record and oust Max Verstappen from top spot.

It was less successful for Hamilton who could only claim fifth place on Sunday's grid despite getting "everything" out of his Mercedes under the lights.

Moving up the positions in Sunday's race could be difficult for the championship leader given the nature of the track, so he hopes to get a good start to give him as much chance as possible of staying close to his rival.

"We knew coming here it would be difficult," he told Sky Sports F1. "Every year it's been difficult for us generally.